04/22/2014

If you had bought $1,000 worth of Bitcoins in 2010, you would have $2.4 million dollars today. The anonymous, Internet-based currency has seen an exponential rise in value and popularity since its inception in 2009. This raises legal questions regarding the legitimacy, the legalities, and what lawyers need to know about this new currency. In this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams invite Bitcoin experts, attorney Lowell D. Ness and journalist Kashmir Hill, to provide some answers and a foretelling of the e-currency's future. Ness is a partner of the nationwide law firm Perkins Coie which has extensive experience in virtual currency. The firm's Virtual Currency Report Blog, which Lowell regularly contributes to, provides a legal outlook on the state of bitcoin and the market. Lowell's practice focuses on high-growth emerging companies and involves venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, and private placements. Senior Online Editor of Forbes, Hill is a privacy pragmatist with an interest in the intersection of law, technology, social media, and personal information. Former editor of Above the Law, she has been following the Bitcoin story from the start, and will be releasing an e-book documenting Bitcoin's rise later this year. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

Celebrity photographer Terry Richardson has always seemed creepy, but now he allegedly offered a British model a Vogue shoot in exchange for sex. British model Emma Appleton revealed that Richardson offered her a photoshoot if she’d have sexy-time with him. Gross! Appleton posted the message on Instagram, which reads, “If I can f–k you I ...

Copyright - Stupid Celebrities Gossip 2013. If you see this content on any other website, it has been stolen. Please report.

The season/series finale of Lindsay aired on OWN earlier tonight and in the final moments of the episode, Lindsay Lohan revealed on camera that she had suffered a miscarriage during the filming of her docu-series. Lindsay explained that the many times that she was shown refusing to film scenes for the show earlier in the [...]

The Corbett administration and the dozen couples challenging the state's ban on same-sex marriage have agreed to forgo trial, instead asking the judge to decide the case on the briefs, a move that shifts the focus to legal, rather than factual, arguments.

Last week Michael Egan, III filed a civil lawsuit against X-Men director Bryan Singer on allegations of sexual abuse that occurred when he was a teenage minor. Today, Egan has filed 3 more lawsuits against 3 other men — TV producer Garth Ancier, former Disney TV president David Neuman and off-Broadway producer Gary Goddard. Like [...]

The trial court held that DOMA Section 3 is unconstitutional; the 1st Circuit affirmed.

The court's decision surveys equal protection and federalism issues and concludes that "governing precedents under both heads combine - not to create some new category of 'heightened scrutiny,' ..., but rather to require a closer than usual review based in part on discrepant impact among married couples and in part on the importance of state interests in regulating marriage."

Thus the court gave less deference to, and "closer scrutiny of government action touching upon minority group interests and of federal action in areas of traditional state concern."

The court concluded that denial of federal benefits to same-sex married couples "has not been adequately supported by any permissible federal interest."

The court stayed its mandate, thus extending the trial court's stay, in anticipation of the losing parties seeking certiorari in the US Supreme Court.

My view:

This is a decision, purportedly based on the US Constitution, that essentially avoids making an explicit connection to the text of the Constitution.

The idea is that states regulate marriage, the federal government may have something to say in this regard, but the reasons behind the federal government's actions didn't have enough oomph. No, there's no 10th amendment violation, and no violation of the Spending Clause. And no, there's no "strict scrutiny" going on. And no "new category of 'heightened scrutiny.'" But wait, let's give the legislation "closer scrutiny."

I'm no fan of DOMA, but it's not really clear to me what this court is doing.

No, it's probably not considered the Golden Age of Hollywood, but it is safe to say that the '80s brought us more than enough films to stand the test of time. Whether you relate to the Brat Pack or Detective John McClane, you've probably got a few favorites that make you squeal when they show up (again and again) on AMC or TBS. And if you ever come across a film you don't recognize, just use this handy checklist to determine if you're indeed watching '80s gold.

Top law schools are able to place most of their graduates in associate positions, but elsewhere the future remains grim according to employment stats released last week by the American Bar Association.

[JURIST] An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced 23 people, alleged to be members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], to three and a half years each in prison. The accused were imprisoned in connection with protests last November against the trial of former president Mohamed Morsi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. They were found guilty of several charges [Reuters report], including attacking security forces and "thuggery." Among those sentenced was Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed El-Beltagy, who...

After my very successful morning at Amoeba Music for Record Store Day yesterday, I did a bit of work in the afternoon before I met up with my friend Adriana and her friends Jenny and Lila for an art opening by Adam Villacin + Ashkahn (who are also friends of Adriana). The event was held [...]

The National Law Journal spotlights Colorado in-house legal teams that are setting standards in outside counsel management, corporate compliance, diversity in the profession, pro bono service and in handling really big deals.

04/19/2014

The second weekend of the 2014 edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival kicks off today and in honor of the music fest’s 15th year, I present to you all of the official posters that have been released listing all of the performers who have played Coachella since 1999. Back in the day, [...]

If you had bought $1,000 worth of Bitcoins in 2010, you would have $2.4 million dollars today. The anonymous, Internet-based currency has seen an exponential rise in value and popularity since its inception in 2009. This raises legal questions regarding the legitimacy, the legalities, and what lawyers need to know about this new currency. In this edition of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams invite Bitcoin experts, attorney Lowell D. Ness and journalist Kashmir Hill, to provide some answers and a foretelling of the e-currency's future. Ness is a partner of the nationwide law firm Perkins Coie which has extensive experience in virtual currency. The firm's Virtual Currency Report Blog, which Lowell regularly contributes to, provides a legal outlook on the state of bitcoin and the market. Lowell's practice focuses on high-growth emerging companies and involves venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, and private placements. Senior Online Editor of Forbes, Hill is a privacy pragmatist with an interest in the intersection of law, technology, social media, and personal information. Former editor of Above the Law, she has been following the Bitcoin story from the start, and will be releasing an e-book documenting Bitcoin's rise later this year. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

Are Bar Exams really necessary? The Iowa State Bar Association isn't so sure. In this episode of Lawyer2Lawyer, hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams interview Iowa State Bar Association President Guy Cook and Clinical Professor of Law John Whiston to learn why Iowa could soon offer Diploma Privilege for its law graduates. Cook is the current president of the Iowa State Bar Association. He is an Iowa native who has been practicing law for over 30 years. Guy is a board certified trial attorney, former federal prosecutor, and senior partner for Grefe and Sidney, P.L.C. where he practices exclusively in litigation. He also serves on the Board of Counselors of Drake University Law School. Whiston is a clinical professor of law at The University of Iowa College of Law. He teaches in the Clinical Legal Programs as well as courses in Evidence, Deposition Practice, Worker's Compensation, and Trial Advocacy. John is a former partner with Rossbach and Whiston, P.C. and has been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. Special thanks to our sponsor, Clio.

Despite US notions of innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, many innocent people have been sent to prison for lengthy to life sentences. Common reasons for these wrongful convictions are faulty eyewitness accounts, use of "junk" science as evidence, and informants with conflicts of interest. On this episode of The Paralegal Voice, host Vicki Voisin interviews Professor Marla Mitchell-Cichon from the Cooley Innocence Project at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Together they discuss the Innocence Project and the Post Conviction DNA Testing Statutes that opened the door for exoneration of the innocent around the country. Furthermore, we discover how the convicted innocent have less help than guilty parolees upon their release. Tune in to learn more about coerced confessions, bad actors who cause false convictions, and what remedies the wrongfully convicted have.
Professor Marla Mitchell-Cichon began her teaching career in 1986, following service as a public defender. Her clinical teaching includes post-conviction, criminal defense, general civil practice, elder law and externship. Professor Mitchell began teaching in Cooley's Innocence Project in 2002. She serves as the project's co-director. In 2006, Professor Mitchell received the Justice For All award from the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan for her Innocence Project work. Professor Mitchell's litigation experience includes practicing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the Ohio Supreme Court, and trial and appellate courts in Ohio and Michigan. Professor Mitchell's publications are in the areas of criminal law, elder law, ethics, and clinical teaching.
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